Pasta imposter? Montreal brand calls out Russian company for packaging plagiarism

A side-by-side comparison of packaging for dried pasta from the Stefano brand, based in Montreal, and from Avanti Macaroni Factory, based in Russia. (Source: Instagram/@sfaita)

As the saying goes, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

That’s how one Montreal-based pasta brand is reacting after calling out a Russian company which appears to have copied their design for their own pasta products.

Aliments Faita Forgione, maker of the Stefano brand of pasta and sauces, shared a photo of the two packages side-by-side on their Instagram account on Tuesday.

“We always knew our packaging was stellar… but we didn’t expect it to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Russia without us,” the company said in a post.

From the placement of virtually every bit of text and the see-through plastic on the front to the lettering on the side to the package, the products look strikingly similar.

“Here’s a little lesson in plagiarism 101: when your packaging looks this familiar, it’s not inspiration — it’s copying,” the Montreal company said online. “Shoutout to our Russian pasta friends for ‘borrowing’ our design, but remember, originality is always the best recipe. Just saying!”

LG2, a creative marketing company based in Montreal and Toronto, designed the branding for Stefano pasta products. A spokesperson told CTV News they were “surprised” about the lookalike after a client in Toronto spotted the product on social media.

Apology on Instagram

The Russian products appear to be sold by Avanti Macaroni Factory.

Someone purporting to be an employee responded to Aliments Faita Forgione’s post online and apologized, writing in Russian that the company acknowledged that it was “inspired” by the packaging design.

“After reviewing our stance, we realize that we have crossed the line between inspiration and copy,” the person wrote.

“It was a mistake and we apologize for this situation. We value your work and creativity, so we’ve decided to completely stop commercial use of this package and make necessary changes to our design.”

Attempts by CTV News to reach the person who apologized were not successful.

Aliments Faita Forgione seems to be having fun with the copycat and, at least for now, does not intend to take legal action.

“We would have to pay out of our own pocket with no guarantee that the product would be removed. If it was in North America, we would have consider it but Russia is far,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email Thursday.

“So, we decided to post on our social networks without identifying the company in question, mainly to raise awareness of plagiarism in design.”